    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book III)]
    [October 30, 2004]
    [Pages 2850-2858]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks in Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin
    October 30, 2004

        The President. Thank you all for coming. Thank you all. It's good to
    be with all the cheeseheads. It's great to be back in Brown County.
        We're here to ask for your vote and here to ask for your help. It is
    close to voting time. We have a duty in our democracy to vote. And so
    I'm asking you to get your friends and neighbors and remind them of that
    duty. Find our fellow Republicans, and turn them out. Find independents,
    and turn them out. Find discerning Democrats, and head them to the
    polls. And when you get them going to the polls, remind them, if they
    want a safer America, a stronger America, and a better America, to put
    me and Dick Cheney back in office.

        Perhaps the most important reason of all to put me back in for 4
    more years is to make sure that Laura is the
    First Lady for 4 more years.

        I'm proud of my runningmate. I don't want to offend anybody here who
    is follically challenged--[laughter]--but I admit it, Vice President
    Cheney doesn't

    [[Page 2851]]

    have the waviest hair in the race. [Laughter] People in this part of the
    world will be happy I didn't pick him because of his hairdo. I picked
    him because of his judgment. I picked him because of his experience.
    He's getting the job done for the American people.
        I'm proud of your former Governor, my friend and Cabinet Secretary,
    Tommy Thompson. He's done a great job. You
    know, one of the jobs of a President is to surround himself with smart,
    capable people. I obviously know how to do that when I picked Tommy
    Thompson.
        I want to thank Congressman Mark Green for
    being such a fine Member of the United States Congress. I want to thank
    his wife, Sue. I want to thank Congressman Jim
    Sensenbrenner and wife,
    Cheryl, for joining us today. I want to
    thank Congressman Tom Petri for joining us
    today. I want to thank Congressman Paul Ryan for
    joining us today.
        I want to thank your State treasurer, Jack Voight. I want to thank the assembly speaker for being here. I
    want to thank Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker. I call him Scott W. I want to thank all the local
    officials, the mayors and the city council folks.
        I want to thank Tina Danforth, the
    Oneida Nation chairwoman, for joining us today. I want to thank Bob
    Chicks, the Stockbridge tribal president, for
    joining us today. I am honored--I'm honored these tribal leaders are
    here, and I look forward to working on a government-to-government basis
    in the next 4 years to help build a more hopeful America for every
    citizen who lives in this country.
        I hope you vote for Tim Michels for the
    United States Senate. Laura and I have come to
    know he and Barbara, and he is a fine, fine
    man. He'll make a great United States Senator.
        I want to thank my friend Kayne Robinson,
    who's the president of the NRA, the National Rifle Association. I want
    to thank Wayne LaPierre for being with
    us today. I'm proud to have the endorsement and support of so many of
    the sports men and women across the State of Wisconsin. I appreciate
    Jeff Schinkten, who's the Whitetails
    Unlimited founder and board president, for supporting my candidacy.
        I want to thank Lee Greenwood for being
    here, my friend.
        But most of all, Laura and I thank you all
    for coming. Thank you for taking time out of your Saturday afternoon to
    come by and say hello. I want to thank those of you who are putting up
    the signs. I want to thank those of you who are making the phone calls.
    I want to thank you for turning out such a huge crowd today. I want to
    thank you for what you have done and what you're going to do. By working
    hard and by turning out the vote, there is no doubt in my mind we will
    carry Wisconsin and win a great victory in November.
        The person who sits in the Oval Office for the next 4 years will set
    the course of the war on terror and the direction of our economy.
    America will need strong, determined, optimistic leadership, and I am
    ready for the job. My 4 years as your President have confirmed some
    lessons and have taught me some new ones. I've learned to expect the
    unexpected because war and emergency can arrive suddenly on a quiet
    morning. I have learned firsthand how hard it is to send young men and
    women into battle, even if the cause is right. I've been grateful for
    the lessons I have learned from my parents: Respect every person; do
    your best; live life to its fullest. I've been strengthened by my faith
    and humbled by its reminder that every life is part of a larger story.
        I know how a President must lead, as Presidents from Lincoln to
    Roosevelt to Reagan so clearly demonstrated. A President must not shift
    with the wind. A President has to make the tough decisions and stand by
    them. In the last 4 years, Americans have learned a few things about me.

    [[Page 2852]]

    Sometimes I am a little too blunt. [Laughter] I got that from my
    mother. [Laughter] Sometimes I mangle the
    English language. [Laughter] I got that from my father. [Laughter] But all the time, whether you agree with me
    or disagree with me, you know where I stand. You know what I believe,
    and you know where I'm going to lead.
        You can't say that about my opponent. I
    think it is fair to say that consistency is not his long suit.
    [Laughter] Next Tuesday, the citizens of this country will vote. They
    will vote for conviction. They will vote for principle. They will vote
    for somebody who knows how to lead this country, and with your help,
    they'll be voting for George W. Bush.
        This election comes down to five choices for America's families. And
    the first clear choice is the most important, because it concerns the
    security of your family. All progress on every other issue depends on
    the safety of our citizens. The terrorists who killed thousands of
    innocent people are still dangerous and determined to strike. The
    outcome of this election will set the direction of the war against
    terror. The most solemn duty of the American President is to protect the
    American people. And if our country, if America shows any uncertainty or
    any weakness in this decade, the world will drift toward tragedy. This
    is not going to happen on my watch.
        Since that terrible morning of September the 11th, 2001, we fought
    the terrorists across the Earth, not for pride, not for power but
    because the lives of our citizens are at stake. Our strategy is clear.
    We're protecting the homeland. We're transforming--or reforming and
    strengthening our intelligence capabilities. We are transforming our
    military. The All-Volunteer Army will remain an all-volunteer army.
    There will be no draft. We are relentless. We are steadfast. We are
    determined. We will chase the terrorists around the globe so we do not
    have to face them here at home.
        Because we led, Afghanistan is a free nation and now an ally in the
    war on terror. Because we led, Pakistan is capturing terrorist leaders;
    Saudi Arabia is making raids and arrests. Because we led, Libya is
    dismantling its weapons programs. Because we led, an army of a free Iraq
    is fighting for freedom; and more than three-quarters of Al Qaida's key
    members and associates have been brought to justice.
        We will not only stay on the offense with all our assets; we will
    stay on the offense by spreading freedom and liberty. I believe in the
    power of liberty to transform societies. And I want the youngsters to
    know firsthand what I mean. Just look at what happened in Afghanistan.
    It wasn't all that long ago that the people of that country lived under
    the brutal reign of barbarians, ideologues of hate called the Taliban.
    Young girls were not allowed to go to school, and if their mothers did
    not toe the line, they were taken into the public square and whipped and
    sometimes executed in a sports stadium. Because we acted in our own
    self-defense, because we upheld a doctrine that I clearly laid out for
    the world which said, ``If you harbor a terrorist, you're equally as
    guilty as the terrorist,'' because we did what we said we were going to
    do, millions of people in Afghanistan voted for President of that
    country. And the first voter was a 19-year-old woman. And America is better off to have freedom take the
    place of tyranny in Afghanistan.
        And there are going to be elections in Iraq in January. Think how
    far that country has come from the days of torture chambers and the
    brutal reign of a hater of America who had mass graves for thousands of
    his citizens. Freedom is on the march, and America and the world are
    more secure because of it. I believe in my heart of hearts that every
    person in the world desires to live in a free society. I believe this
    because I understand that freedom is not America's gift to the world;
    freedom

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    is the Almighty God's gift to each man and woman of this world.
        A President must lead with consistency and strength. In a war,
    sometimes your tactics have to change but never your principles.
    Americans have seen how I do my job. On good days and on bad days, when
    the polls are up or the polls are down, I am determined to protect the
    security of the American people.
        And I will always support the men and women who wear our Nation's
    uniform. I want to thank those who wear the uniform who are here today.
    I want to thank the military families who are here today for your
    sacrifice. And I want to thank the veterans who are here today for
    having set such a great example for the men and women of today's
    military. And we'll make sure our troops have got the full support of
    the Government.
        That's why I went to the Congress and requested $87 billion of
    funding to support our troops in combat. It was important. This happened
    in September of 2003. And it was vital, a vital funding request. And we
    got good bipartisan support there in Washington. Only 12 Members of the
    Senate voted against the funding, 2 of whom are my opponent and his runningmate.
        Audience members. Boo-o-o!
        The President. But I want to tell you this fact. As you're gathering
    up the vote, remind your friends and neighbors about this. Only 4
    Members of the United States Senate--4 out of 100--voted to authorize
    force and then voted against the funding to support the troops they
    authorized, and 2 of those 4 were my opponent
    and his runningmate. They kept asking him why
    he made the vote he did. And he uttered perhaps the most famous quote of
    the 2004 campaign, when he said, ``I actually did vote for the $87
    billion, right before I voted against it.'' [Laughter]
        Now, I haven't spent a lot of time in the coffee shops here in Green
    Bay, but I suspect I'm not going to find many people who talk that way.
    [Laughter] They kept pressing him. They kept
    asking for answers. He's given several answers since then, but perhaps
    the most revealing of all was that he said, ``The whole thing was a
    complicated matter.'' [Laughter] My fellow Americans, there is nothing
    complicated about supporting our troops in combat.
        My opponent's positions are kind of like
    the weather here in Green Bay--[laughter]--if you don't like it, wait a
    little bit, and it will change. [Laughter]
        My opponent's record on national security
    has a far deeper problem than election-year flip-flopping. And it's
    important for you to understand the record. On the largest national
    security issues of our time, he has been consistently wrong. When Ronald
    Reagan was confronting the Soviet Union at the height of the cold war,
    Senator Kerry said that President Reagan's policy of peace through
    strength was making America less safe. History has shown that Senator
    Kerry was wrong and President Reagan was right.
        When former President Bush led a
    coalition against Saddam Hussein in 1991
    because the tyrant had invaded Kuwait and threatened the peace and
    stability of the world, Senator Kerry voted
    against the use of force to liberate Kuwait. History has shown that
    Senator Kerry was wrong and former President Bush was right.
        In 1994, just one year after the first bombing of the World Trade
    Center, Senator Kerry proposed massive cuts in
    America's intelligence budget, so massive that even his colleague from
    Massachusetts, Ted Kennedy, voted against
    them. History has shown that Senator Kerry was wrong--and we have got to
    be fair--in this case, Senator Kennedy was right. [Laughter]
        During the 20 years--during the last 20 years, in key moments of
    challenge and decision for America, Senator Kerry has chosen the position of weakness and inaction. With
    that record, he stands in opposition not just to me but to the great
    tradition of the Democratic Party. The party of Franklin Roosevelt and
    Harry Truman

    [[Page 2854]]

    and John Kennedy is rightly remembered for confidence and resolve in
    times of crises and in times of war. Senator Kerry has turned his back
    on ``pay any price'' and ``bear any burden,'' and he has replaced those
    commitments with ``wait and see'' and ``cut and run.''
        Many Democrats in this country do not recognize their party anymore.
    And today, I want to speak to every one of them: If you believe that
    America should lead with strength and purpose and confidence in our
    ideals, I would be honored to have your support, and I'm asking for your
    vote.
        We have big differences about how to approach the security of our
    country. You might remember one of our debates when my opponent said that America must pass a ``global test'' before
    we commit our troops.
        Audience members. Boo-o-o!
        The President. I'm not making that up. [Laughter] I heard it too.
    [Laughter] As far as I can tell, that means we've got to get permission
    from foreign capitals before we act in our own defense. That's----
        Audience members. No-o-o!
        The President. That is a dangerous policy in the world in which we
    live. I'll work with our friends. I will work with our allies. I
    understand how important these alliances are, but I will never turn over
    America's national security decisions to leaders of other countries.
        The security of our families are--is at stake. We've got to be firm
    and resolved. My opponent was quoted about
    September the 11th, and he said it didn't change him much at all. Well,
    September the 11th changed me. It made me look at the world in a
    different light. I'll never forget the day I stood in the ruins of the
    Twin Towers--that was September the 14th, 2001. I'll never forget the
    sights and the sounds of that moment when the workers in hardhats were
    yelling at me at the top of their lungs, ``Whatever it takes.'' And one
    of the first-responders--I don't know if he worked for the fire
    department of New York or the police department--he came out of the
    rubble, and he grabbed me by the arm, and he looked me right in the eye
    and he said, ``Do not let me down.'' Ever since that day, I wake up
    every morning trying to figure out how to better protect America. I will
    never relent in defending this country, whatever it takes.
        The second clear choice in this election concerns your family's
    budget. When I ran for President 4 years ago, I pledged to lower taxes
    for our families, and I kept my word. We raised the child credit. We
    lowered the penalty on marriage. We believe the code ought to encourage
    marriage, not penalize marriage. We created a 10-percent bracket. We
    reduced taxes on everybody who pays taxes, and we're overcoming
    obstacles because of that plan.
        When you're out gathering the vote, remind your friends and
    neighbors that 6 months prior to my arrival the stock market was in
    serious decline. That would be 6 months prior to my arrival in January
    of 2001. And then we had a recession and corporate scandals and an
    attack that cost us about a million jobs in the 3 months after September
    the 11th.
        But our economic policies are working. This economy of ours is
    strong, and it is getting stronger. We've added 1.9 million jobs in the
    last 13 months. Homeownership rate is at an alltime high in America.
    More minority families own a home than ever before in our Nation's
    history. Wisconsin farmers are making a living. The small-business
    sector in our country is strong. The entrepreneurial spirit is alive,
    and it is well. The national unemployment rate is 5.4 percent. Let me
    put that in perspective for you: That's lower than the average rate of
    the 1970s, the 1980s, and the 1990s. The unemployment rate in the great
    State of Wisconsin is 5 percent. We're overcoming the obstacles. We're
    strong, and we are getting stronger.
        My opponent has different plans for your
    budget. He's going to take a big chunk

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    out of it. He voted against the child credit--raising the child credit.
    He voted against reducing the marriage penalty. He voted against the tax
    relief. And had he had had his way, the average family in Wisconsin
    would be paying $2,000 more per year in taxes.
        Audience members. Boo-o-o!
        The President. Now, that probably doesn't seem like a lot to some of
    them in Washington, but I understand it's a lot for the families in
    Green Bay, Wisconsin. People can use that $2,000. It can help them raise
    their children, help them make a living--and if you're a small-business
    owner.
        My opponent's been in the Senate for 20
    years, and he voted to raise taxes 98 times. That's five times a year.
    Now, I would call that a leading indicator. [Laughter] He's also
    promised $2.2 trillion in new spending. That would be trillion with a
    ``T.'' [Laughter] And that's a lot even for a Senator from
    Massachusetts. [Laughter]
        So they asked him how he's going to pay
    for it, and he threw out that same old, tired line, ``Oh, we'll pay for
    it by taxing the rich.'' That means he's going to raise the top two
    brackets. You know most small businesses are sole proprietorships or
    Subchapter S corporations, which means they pay tax at the individual
    income-tax level. Seventy percent of new jobs in America are created by
    small businesses. So therefore, when you run up the top two brackets,
    you're taxing job creators; you're taxing small-business owners. And
    that doesn't make any economic sense at all.
        And secondly, when you top--raise the top two brackets, you raise
    between 600 and 800 billion dollars, which is far short of the 2.2
    trillion he has promised. I call that a tax gap. [Laughter] And given
    his record, guess who gets to fill the tax
    gap? You do. The good news is, you're not going to get taxed; we're
    going to carry Wisconsin and win on November the 2d.
        The third clear choice in this election involves the quality of life
    for our families. That means good education and quality health care. As
    a candidate, I pledged to challenge the soft bigotry of low expectations
    by reforming our public schools. I kept my word. We passed the No Child
    Left Behind Act, which I proudly signed into law. In return for
    increased Federal spending, we're now expecting results because we
    believe every child can learn and we expect every school to teach. You
    cannot solve a problem unless you diagnose the problem. And so the new
    system enables us to diagnose and solve problems. The test scores are on
    the rise across this country in reading and math. We're closing an
    achievement gap for minority students all across this country. And we
    refuse to go back to the days of low standards and mediocrity in our
    classrooms.
        And we will improve health care by making sure it is available and
    affordable. To make sure health care is available, we'll expand
    community health centers to help the poor and the indigent get primary
    and preventative care. We'll make sure our program for children of low-
    income families is fully subscribed. A compassionate society takes care
    of those who cannot help themselves. But I also recognize that most of
    the uninsured work for small businesses. And so to enable the small
    businesses to better afford insurance, we ought to allow them to join
    together to pool risk so they can buy insurance at the same discounts
    that big companies are able to do. We will expand health savings
    accounts to help our families and our entrepreneurs.
        And to make sure health care is available and affordable, we will do
    something about the frivolous lawsuits that are running up the cost of
    medicine and driving too many doctors out of business. I have met too
    many ob-gyns as I've traveled our country who are having trouble staying
    in practice because these lawsuits are running up their premiums and
    running them out of practice. And I have met too many women who are
    concerned about whether or not they and their child will get the health
    care they

    [[Page 2856]]

    need. Too many communities have been upset because doctors can no longer
    practice medicine.
        This is a national problem, I'm telling you, that requires a
    national solution. You cannot be pro-doctor, pro-patient, and pro-
    personal-injury-trial-lawyer at the same time. I think you have to make
    a choice. My opponent made his choice. He has
    voted against medical liability reform not once but 10 times as a
    Senator. And he put a personal-injury trial lawyer on the ticket.
        Audience members. Boo-o-o!
        The President. I've made my choice. I'm standing with the doctors.
    I'm standing with the patients of Wisconsin. I am for medical liability
    reform--now.
        My opponent has got a different point of
    view when it comes to health care. You might remember the debate when he
    said, well, the--they asked him about his plan, and he looked in the
    camera and he said, ``The Government doesn't have anything to do with
    it.'' I could barely contain myself. [Laughter] The Government has got a
    lot to do with it. Eighty percent of the people that would be signed up
    for health insurance under his plan would go on the Government health
    care plan. If you make it easier for people to sign up for Medicaid,
    small businesses will drop insurance because the Government will provide
    the insurance. And so you're moving people from the private sector to
    the public sector. And when the Government starts writing the check, the
    Government starts making the rules. And when the Government starts
    making the rules for your family's health care, they start making the
    decisions for your family's health care and they start making the
    decisions for your doctors. Federalizing health care is the wrong
    prescription for American families.
        In all we do to make sure health care is available and affordable,
    we will make sure the decisions are made by doctors and patients, not by
    officials in Washington, DC.
        The fourth clear choice in this election involves your retirement.
    Our Nation has made a solemn commitment to America's seniors on Social
    Security and Medicare. When I ran for President 4 years ago, I promised
    to keep that commitment and improve Medicare by adding prescription drug
    coverage. I kept my word. The Medicare debate was one of those debates
    in which people said a lot of stuff but nothing ever got done. I worked
    with Republicans and Democrats to make the system work better. We would
    pay thousands of dollars for a heart surgery under Medicare but not one
    dime for the prescription drugs that could prevent the heart surgery
    from being needed in the first place. It didn't make any sense. The
    system wasn't working. We got the job done. And beginning in 2006, all
    seniors will get prescription drug coverage under Medicare.
        And we'll keep our commitment in Social Security as well. Let me
    talk about Social Security--well, you don't have any choice. I'm going
    to talk about Social Security. [Laughter] You might remember the 2000
    campaign when they ran the ads in Wisconsin that tried to scare our
    seniors by saying that, ``If George W. gets elected, the seniors will
    not get their checks.'' Remind your friends and neighbors, George W. got
    elected, and the seniors got their checks. And the seniors will continue
    to get their checks. No matter how they try to scare Wisconsin seniors,
    the seniors will get their checks. And baby boomers like me and like
    some of the others I see out there--[laughter]--are in pretty good shape
    when it comes to Social Security.
        But we need to worry about our children and our grandchildren. We
    need to worry about whether the Social Security trust will be available
    for them when they need it. And therefore, I think younger workers ought
    to be allowed to take some of their payroll taxes and set up a personal
    savings account, a personal saving account they call their own, a
    personal savings account the Government cannot take away.

    [[Page 2857]]

        My opponent takes a different approach
    about Social Security. He's promised he's going to protect the system,
    but what he didn't tell you was he voted eight times for higher taxes on
    Social Security benefits. He can run from his record, but he cannot
    hide. We're not going to let him hide.
        And he didn't offer anything for the
    youngsters when it comes to strengthening Social Security. The job of a
    President is to confront problems, not to pass them on to future
    Presidents and future generations. In a new term, I will bring people
    together and strengthen Social Security for generations to come.
        And the fifth clear choice is on the values that are crucial for our
    country. We stand for things. We stand for marriage and family, which
    are the foundations of our society. We stand for a culture of life in
    which every person matters and every being counts. I proudly signed the
    ban on partial-birth abortions. And we stand for the appointment of
    Federal judges who know the difference between personal opinion and the
    strict interpretation of the law.
        My opponent has had a different point of
    view. He voted against the ban on partial-birth abortion. He voted
    against the Defense of Marriage Act. And at one point in this campaign,
    he said that the heart and soul of America can be found in Hollywood.
        Audience members. Boo-o-o!
        The President. The heart and soul of America is found in communities
    all across the great State of Wisconsin.
        All these choices make this one of the most important elections in
    our history. And the decision is in the best of hands. It is in the
    hands of the American people. In less than 72 hours, the American people
    will be voting, and the decision comes down to who do you trust?
        Audience members. You!
        The President. I offer----
        Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
        The President. I offer leadership and results for a time of threat
    and a time of challenge. I ask for your trust. I ask for your vote. I
    ask for your help. I have a vision for this country that is clear. I
    know where I want to take us, and it's to a more hopeful tomorrow.
        One of my favorite quotes is by a fellow Texan named Tom Lea. He
    said, ``Sarah and I live on the east side of the mountain. It is the
    sunrise side, not the sunset side. It is the side to see the day that is
    coming, not to see the day that is gone.'' During this campaign, my
    opponent has spent much of the campaign
    talking about the day that is gone. I'm talking about the day that's
    coming. I see a day where prosperity reaches every corner of America. I
    see a day when every child can read and write. I see a day when we
    achieve the peace that we all long for our children and our
    grandchildren.
        When I campaigned across your State 4 years ago, I made this pledge,
    that if elected, I would uphold the honor and the dignity of the office.
    With your help, with your hard work, I will do so for 4 more years.
        God bless. Thank you all for coming. Thank you all.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:50 a.m. at the Brown County Veterans
    Memorial Complex. In his remarks, he referred to John Gard, speaker,
    Wisconsin State Assembly; Robert Chicks, tribal council president,
    Stockbridge-Munsee Band of the Mohican Nation; Wayne LaPierre, Jr.,
    executive vice president and chief executive officer, National Rifle
    Association; entertainer Lee Greenwood; and former President Saddam
    Hussein of Iraq.

    [[Page 2858]]